Where to find places to live and people to live with (Twin Cities)

November 7, 2015 11:55 AM

I'm going to be starting a graduate program in St. Paul in February (coming from Omaha) and need to get my (new) life together in a fairly short period of time. Where can I find a place to live and a roommate? Details below the fold.

I'll be headed up there the weekend of November 20 to look at apartments and I was hoping y'all could give me some ideas on good places to look for an place and/or a roommate? I'm wary of using Craigslist and am hoping to find someone quiet and relatively clean. I'm also constricted by having the budget of a grad student and would like to find a place where I can do most of my commuting by bike. I'll be attending St. Catherine University so somewhere either in the vicinity or close to public transportation would be ideal. Are there any sites or places you could direct me to for this kind of thing?

posted by holmesian to Travel & Transportation (6 answers total)

Best answer: It would help to know why you're wary of using Craigslist, I think. If you'd rather rent from a property management company than an individual landlord, you should know that plenty of legit management companies post on Craigslist.

You might try calling Mint Properties and At Home Apartments and asking about openings near St. Kate's. I haven't rented from either one, but have looked at their buildings, and both have places that don't suck.

The neighborhoods you want are Mac-Groveland and Merriam Park in St. Paul, and Standish-Ericsson in Minneapolis. Highland Park in St. Paul is close by too, but it's a little fancier and will have fewer rentals. Bus lines you want to be near are the 74, 84, and 87.

Does your program have a listserv or a web board that people use for housing notices? (Worked great for me in grad school although that was ten years ago.)
posted by clavicle at 1:54 PM on November 7, 2015

Response by poster: I should have probably clarified. I'm wary of using Craigslist to find a roommate. Not necessarily wary of using it to find an apartment.
posted by holmesian at 2:06 PM on November 7, 2015

One idea that eluded me the last time I looked for a roommate: consider renting a two-bedroom yourself and then interviewing potential roommates. The downside is that you might be stuck paying the whole rent yourself for a month or two, but you get to skip the frantic search and interview process, while still being able to select a compatible roommate.
posted by deathpanels at 4:19 PM on November 7, 2015

Best answer: University of St Thomas is close to St Kate's--their off-campus housing listings are here http://offcampushousing.stthomas.edu.
posted by Nosey Mrs. Rat at 4:36 PM on November 7, 2015

I live in that area, so let me know if you have specific questions about the neighborhood.
posted by Think_Long at 11:53 AM on November 10, 2015

Response by poster: Thank you everyone for your help! I found a nice place just South of Como Park.
posted by holmesian at 7:51 AM on November 23, 2015